


denouement

by einahpetsyarcip



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, New Dream, end of tangled/ post tangled fic, ill probably add more characters in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26095213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/einahpetsyarcip/pseuds/einahpetsyarcip
Summary: we all know Rapunzel and Eugene eventually lived happily ever after...the question is, how did they get there?..an end-of Tangled fic
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Queen Arianna of Corona & King Frederic of Corona & Rapunzel (Disney)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	denouement

_Darkness._ As he breathed his final breath, everything faded to gray, then black. The only thing left was complete nothingness.

The seconds dragged into minutes that felt like hours, and he couldn’t see anything but the darkness. It surrounded him, and he forgot who he had been and why he was in the darkness. The only thing he knew was this emptiness.

_Suddenly, light_. A blinding, golden light that started as a pinprick and soon encompassed everything about him. Before he even remembered his own name, where he was, or what he was doing, he knew the light. It was warm, and tangible, and he knew it was bringing him back from whatever dark place he had just been.

_Eugene. My name is Eugene._ This was his first thought aside from the light that surrounded him. Another light, equally bright but more hazy, seemed to appear in front of him. Not even sure what he was doing, he ran towards this light…

His eyelids opened, ever so slightly, and he saw _her_. The source of the light. Suddenly he remembered everything. What it was like to be alive. What it was like to see her face lit up with terror - but also joy. “Rapunzel?” he managed to croak out, still regaining consciousness. He barely registered that she gasped.

“Eugene??” she breathed in disbelief, tears still welling up in her eyes as her entire demeanor began to change.

He elected to crack a joke, having regained his wit about a second ago. “...did I ever tell you I’ve got a thing for brunettes?” he asked hoarsely, a grin tugging at the edge of his mouth.

“Eugene!!!” she exclaimed, laughing now before practically launching herself onto him in a rib-crushing hug. He answered her laugh with a joyful chuckle of his own, being completely conscious again.

Eugene clutched her tiny frame to himself like he never wanted to let go of her ever again. Barely a few seconds passed before Rapunzel untangled herself from this embrace to pull back and laugh in relief, staring into his eyes. He couldn’t help but smile back at her before _OH she’s kissing me now_ . The shock of her inexperienced lips on his only lasted for a second before he brought his hand up to grasp her newly-shortened chestnut locks, moving to deepen the kiss. He couldn’t believe he was actually alive and kissing the woman he loved- _wait, loved? Oh well, I can deal with that later._ Once he shoved that matter to the back of his mind for the time being, Rapunzel pulled back again, suddenly looking rather shy. He smiled broadly, still in disbelief any of the miraculous events of the last few minutes had really happened.

She reached for a strand of hair that wasn’t there anymore, prompting her to freeze. “Oh. That’s right,” she muttered, a shadow falling over her previously joyful face. She released the lapels of his vest, which she had been gripping like they were her only anchor to the present world.

Eugene loosened his hold on her, allowing her to climb off him. As soon as she stood up, a hiss of pain escaped her. His protective instincts kicked in and he tried to stand up himself, before being quickly stopped by the post he was still chained to. “Ah, yes...” He looked around for a second, and after seeing nothing he was searching for in the immediate vicinity, turned his gaze upwards to Rapunzel, who was leaning against the wall inspecting her foot for glass. “Hey, blon- uh, Rapunzel? Do you have any pins?” he questioned before digging around in his clothes with his free hand to see if the Stabbington brothers or Coronian guards had left any of his lockpicks or similar devices on his person.

She glanced over at a drawer on the other side of the room before taking a deep breath. “I do, but the problem is they’re all over there, and there’s glass all over the floor from when the mirror shattered earlier when I was fighting Mother - oh gosh, Mother!” Panic started to overtake her, and her breathing quickened as she clutched at her hair with a desperate look in her eyes. “What am I going to do now? I didn’t mean for her to die…” she continued, curling in on herself and sinking down against the wall.

Eugene, sensing her panic and finally retrieving one pin from a secret spot sewn on the inside of his boot, managed to pick the lock on the chain in record time so he could escape and help her calm down, attempting to avoid the glass shards that had been scattered about his person. “Hey, hey…” he soothed, wrapping an arm around her for comfort. “It isn’t your fault, it’s mine, okay?” She was crying again, turning her tear-stained face up towards him.

“But...but...if I had never left the tower, then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt...or- or died! And she would still be alive too.” 

“Rapunzel, listen to me, okay? That woman, when it comes down to it, was using you all these years. It is not your fault she died, and it’s not your fault I died either. I made a choice to save you, a choice I would make a thousand times over if I had to.” He smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done in the past two days...if it weren’t for you, I would still be Flynn Rider and not Eugene Fitzherbert again. And...I wouldn’t have a new dream,” he breathed, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Rapunzel sniffled in response.

“Hey, everything is gonna be fine, okay?” Eugene rested his forehead on hers, lacing their hands together. “We have each other, that’s all we need. And...I think as long as we don’t leave the tower for a bit we should be fine, the guards won’t ever find us in here so you don’t need to worry about me going anywhere.”

Her eyes widened. “Um...Eugene? There’s something I haven’t told you yet,” she whispered nervously.

“What is it, sunshine?”

“......I’m the lost princess.”

He sucked in a breath so fast he started choking, coughing into his fist until he finally regained the ability to speak. “You’re the WHAT??!?” he replied hoarsely, staring at her with incredibly wide eyes.

“Eugene, I...am the lost princess. I realized it earlier when I was looking at the paintings in my room and everything just clicked into place...and when I confronted Mother about it she basically confirmed that it was true. So...we kinda have to go back to the capital.” Finishing with that, she winced, gauging his reaction with eager yet anxious eyes.

Eugene felt like he was going to throw up and/or pass out. 

There was no way...and yet, when he thought about it, everything made sense...the lanterns just HAPPENING to fall on the same day as her birthday, the eerie resemblance to the mural of the lost princess in town, her age coinciding with the age of the aforementioned princess...uh. Well, he was officially, and _royally_ screwed. There was no way the royals who had ordered his execution that very morning would accept him as a suitor of their long-lost daughter, if they even accepted her in the first place.

He managed to get out a strangled “Yay!” so Rapunzel wouldn’t think he was going crazy, though he one hundred percent was. He was pretty sure she could see it on his face too, but for goodness sakes he was dead a few minutes ago! Any news as big as this one was sure to put him in a state of shock for at least a little bit before he could think through what it really meant for both of them. And oh boy, were there some interesting implications that arose in his brain. All this, and it was only...well, he wasn’t quite sure what time it was at the moment, but it had to be at least mid-morning by then.

This was...a _very_ big day.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this first chapter! i've been sitting on it for several months now cause i hadn't made progress on the next chapter - but i should hopefully have that up in the next week :)  
> kudos and comments are greatly appreciated ❤️


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